CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
After a decade in public service as a law enforcement officer, Hurricane, W.Va., native Emily Pintus decided to follow a dream and join the West Virginia Army National Guard (WVARNG) at age 34.
Pintus, now 35, is a specialist with the 753rd Explosive Ordnance Company in Kingwood, W.Va. She shipped off to basic training and advanced individual training in 2018 to qualify as an 89D - Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician. A deputy sheriff with the Monongalia Sheriff’s Office, she majored in forensic science at West Virginia University and, after encouragement from her family - husband Andy and step-son AJ - Pintus left home for the 14 months of training.
“The military was always something I wanted to do,” she said, “but I got distracted from it, between college and getting into the workforce.”
Emily and Andy met as he was transitioning out of the Marine Corps after two deployments to Iraq. They would talk about the service, and how he missed it, and he was supportive of her desire to enlist.
“He was absolutely great through this process,” she said. “But he was like, if you’re going to do it, do it now. Don’t run out of time and regret it.”
“I’ve seen over the years, all the (National Guard does) for the state of West Virginia,” Pintus said. “Being from the southern part of the state, for the floods and stuff like that, it’s the draw of wanting to serve in the military but also wanting to do something for my state.”
“I was by far the oldest one in my basic training company,” she said with a laugh. “I was older than most of my drill sergeants.”
Going through the state police academy and her life experience lead to an easier time at basic than many, she said. She understood the reasoning behind the training and didn’t feel as discouraged or flustered as someone who was straight out of high school.
“At 34 and 35, I’m actually in better shape than when I was 18,” she said. “I don’t recover as fast as I used to so I was very sore and tired the whole time. But it was fun.”
She quickly earned the nickname “Mom” and spent down time in the barracks talking about life with the younger Soldiers.
“I was able to share some of my lessons,” she said. “’I’ve been there, done that, don’t do this,’ or just things to think about so you don’t make mistakes.”
Pintus was a squad leader in basic as well, and tried to use those leadership roles to mentor.
Pintus works full-time, is a mom, a Soldier and helps out in Andy’s business, Blue Line K9. She would also like to go back to school and get a master’s degree, taking advantage of the WVNG’s 100 percent Tuition Assistance program.
By earning the Promise scholarship for her bachelor's degree, she was able to graduate with no student debt. Pintus said she did not want to go into debt this time around, either.
“The Guard’s education assistance was a big draw,” she said.
Pintus is just beginning to drill with her unit and is excited to experience the Guard and volunteer for as many opportunities as she can.
“I wanted to do something a little different to challenge myself,” she said, explaining the decision to train as EOD instead of military police.
“If I’m going to go in this late in life, might was well do something cool,” she exclaimed.